Group tours typically include a breakfast buffet in the hotel, and today’s buffet offered a wide variety of savory and sweet choices. We ate early, because on this day, we would have an audience with the pope. We knew that it wouldn’t be a private audience between us and the  pope, but rather, a general audience. We wanted to arrive early, because enormous crowds were expected. At 7 AM, we were ready to board our bus.

Our driver, Stefano, drove as close as he could get to our destination.  We left the bus and walked ahead, joining  a very  crowded “line” that led  to Piazza San Pietro, the public plaza in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. November is not typically a crowded month in  Rome, but because this is a Jubilee Year, many Romans wanted to be there,  as well as tourists from around the world.  After waiting  for what seemed like several hours, we were led into the piazza itself. The piazza can hold up to 300,000 people. We don’t know exactly how many  were part of the sea of humanity in the piazza that morning, but there were definitely many thousands.

Earlier I mentioned  that I sometimes have an inflammation called angular cheilitis, the symptom of which is a scab where the upper and lower lips meet. I have never heard of anyone else who experienced this condition, but there I was in Piazza San Pietro, and the person next to me had a scab where her upper and lower lips met. What were the odds of that happening?

There were  driving lanes within the piazza for the “popemobile” to make its way through the multitude. In this way,  His Holiness can get reasonably close to many in the crowd. Those of us near the fence could get a clear view of him as he was driven past us. He seemed to make eye contact with us  as he waved. I can only describe this as a very special moment.

I could understand some  of the Italian that he spoke. He addressed us as “fratelli e sorelle”, brothers and sisters. He welcomed those in the crowd from England, Ireland, Finland, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam, Canada and the United States of America. The  cheering crowd was deeply impressed by him and by his address, in which he said  that we  should treat each other with kindness, compassion, and respect.

After his address, the crowd dispersed.  We thought the plan was for our group  to meet at 1 PM for lunch. We decided to get a snack at a nearby  cafe, but we were still hungry. Then we found a gelato shop that was open.  We loved it!

We met up with  Yogi and found that  1 PM was not time for lunch, but was the time we would be starting off for the next part of the day’s adventures.  We were able to get a pistachio pastry to tide us over  before meeting our next tour guide, Adriana, who  accompanied us to our next stop, the Basilica of San Giovanni Laterano, St. John Lateran,  the Catholic “mother church” and the official seat of the pope. This basilica is dedicated  to St. John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist. “Larteran” refers to Laterani, the ancient Roman  family that owned the site on which the church was built.

Father Kumar led us through the Holy Door, and once again, we were amazed by what we saw: an enormous, multi-naved interior with a gilded ceiling, a geometric floor, and many artworks including statues of the apostles.

After that, we visited the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Saint Mary Major,  the largest Catholic Basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and the burial place of Pope Francis. The mosaics are masterworks of great art from floor to ceiling. The  church is sometimes called “Our Lady of the Snows,” because  of a snowstorm that occurred there in the summer during  fourth century AD.  I was touched to learn this, because the name of   the church in which Nick and I were married is Our Lady of the Snows.

Darkness fell upon us. We had achieved entering three of the four Holy Doors; we had been unable to enter the holy door at Saint Peter’s Basilica in the morning, but perhaps we could do it then in the evening.  We returned to Saint Peter’s.  We were among the last  groups that were allowed to enter before closing time!

We literally had only a few minutes to take in the  magnificence of St. Peter’s. I was relieved that those in our group who had never been there before would have the opportunity to experience it. The  first unforgettable sight we saw was Michelangelo’s Pietà, a masterwork of  deep emotion known to all the world.

We had  achieved entering all four of the Holy Doors, with Father Kumar leading us in prayer all the way. I remember walking through tunnels to get back to our hotel. Many of us were out of energy after such a full day, but Father Kumar was invigorated, leading us in song.

We returned to our hotel, and Josephine suggested that we join her for dinner. We opted to try Ristorante Massimo d’Azeglio (opened in 1875) directly across the street from our hotel. Soon Joan and John entered the restaurant, and we suggested that they join the three of us. Regretfully, I didn’t note what we ordered, but I remember that my dinner was delicious, and my dinner companions were very happy with their meals as well.

Typically, I write notes about each day’s activities before going to bed. On this night, I marveled at all those whose dedication, talents and efforts  enabled us to have had the day’s emotions and experiences.

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